AN ACT to amend and reenact sections two and five, article five-a,
chapter twenty-six of the code of West Virginia, one thousand
nine hundred thirty-one, as amended; and to further amend said
article by adding thereto a new section, designated section
seven, all relating to standard and emergency commitment
proceedings for persons with communicable tuberculosis;
authorizing the bureau of public health or its designee to
make application for involuntary commitment in emergency
situations; setting forth the procedures for involuntary
commitment of persons suffering from tuberculosis; requiring information related to persons' uncooperative behavior;
authorizing magistrate to accept application in certain
circumstances; permitting immediate detention for specified
period of time; permitting postponement of hearing for
specified period of time; requiring immediate commitment upon
finding of probable cause that the person is likely to cause
serious harm to him or herself or others; and eliminating or
updating obsolete references.

Be it enacted by the Legislature of West Virginia:
That sections two and five, article five-a, chapter twenty-six
of the code of West Virginia, one thousand nine hundred thirty-one,
as amended, be amended and reenacted; and that said article be
further amended by adding thereto a new section, designated section
seven, all to read as follows:ARTICLE 5A. TUBERCULOSIS CONTROL.

§26-5A-2. Forms for committing patients; other records.The state bureau of public health or its designee is
authorized to prepare, prescribe and have printed forms to be used
in committing patients to any state tuberculosis institution.

§26-5A-5. Procedure when patient is health menace to others.(a) If any practicing physician, public health officer, or chief medical officer having under observation or care any person
who is suffering from tuberculosis in a communicable stage is of
the opinion that the environmental conditions of that person are
not suitable for proper isolation or control by any type of local
quarantine as prescribed by the state bureau of public health of
the department of health and human resources or an authorized
designee thereof, and that the person is unable or unwilling to
conduct himself or herself and to live in such a manner as not to
expose members of his or her family or household or other persons
with whom he or she may be associated to danger of infection, he or
she shall report the facts to the bureau of public health or its
designee which shall forthwith investigate or have investigated the
circumstances alleged.
(b) If the bureau of public health or its designee finds that
any person's physical condition is a health menace to others, the
bureau of public health or its designee shall petition the circuit
court of the county in which the person resides, or the judge
thereof in vacation, alleging that the person is afflicted with
communicable tuberculosis and that the person's physical condition
is a health menace to others, and requesting an order of the court
committing the person to one of the state institutions for the
treatment of tuberculosis: Provided, That if the bureau of public health or its designee determines than an emergency situation
exists which warrants the immediate detention and commitment of a
person suffering from tuberculosis, an application for immediate
involuntary commitment may be filed pursuant to section seven of
this article.
(c) Upon receiving the petition, the court shall fix a date
for hearing thereof and notice of the petition and the time and
place for hearing shall be served personally, at least seven days
before the hearing, upon the person who is afflicted with
tuberculosis and alleged to be dangerous to the health of others.
(d) If, upon hearing, it appears that the complaint of the
bureau of public health or its designee is well founded, that the
person is afflicted with communicable tuberculosis, and that the
person is a source of danger to others, the court shall commit the
individual to an institution maintained for the care and treatment
of persons afflicted with tuberculosis. The person shall be deemed
to be committed until discharged in the manner authorized in this
section.
(e) The chief medical officer of the institution to which any
person afflicted with tuberculosis has been committed may discharge
that person when, in his or her judgment, the person may be
discharged without danger to the health or life of others. The chief medical officer shall report immediately to the bureau of
public health or its designee each discharge of a person afflicted
with tuberculosis.
(f) Every person committed under the provisions of this
section shall observe all the rules of the institution. Any
patient so committed may, by direction of the chief medical officer
of the institution, be placed apart from the others and restrained
from leaving the institution so long as he or she continues to be
afflicted with tuberculosis and remains a health menace.
(g) Nothing in this section may be construed to prohibit any
person committed to any institution under the provisions of this
section from applying to the supreme court of appeals for a review
of the evidence on which the commitment was made. Nothing in this
section may be construed or operate to empower or authorize the
bureau of public health, the department of health and human
resources or an authorized designee thereof or the chief medical
officer of the institution, or their representatives, to restrict
in any manner the individual's right to select any method of
tuberculosis treatment offered by the institution.§26-5A-7. Procedures for immediate involuntary commitment.(a) An application for immediate involuntary commitment of a
person suffering from tuberculosis may be filed by the commissioner of the bureau of public health, or his or her designee, in the
circuit court of the county in which the person resides. The
application shall be filed under oath, and shall present
information and facts which establish that the person suffering
from tuberculosis in a communicable stage has been uncooperative or
irresponsible with regard to quarantine or safety measures,
presents a health menace to others, and is in need of immediate
hospitalization until his or her communicable tuberculosis becomes
noninfectious.
(b) Upon receipt of the application, the circuit court may
thereupon enter an order for the individual named in the action to
be detained and taken into custody for the purpose of holding a
probable cause hearing. The order shall specify that the hearing
be held forthwith and shall appoint counsel for the individual:
Provided, That in the event immediate detention is believed to be
necessary for the protection of the individual or others at a time
when no circuit court judge is available for immediate presentation
of the application, a magistrate may accept the application and,
upon a finding that immediate detention is necessary pending
presentation of the application to the circuit court, may order the
individual to be temporarily committed until the earliest
reasonable time that the application can be presented to the circuit court, which temporary period of detention shall not exceed
twenty-four hours, except as provided for in subsection (c) of this
section.
(c) A probable cause hearing shall be held before a magistrate
or circuit judge of the county of which the individual is a
resident or where he or she was found. If requested by the
individual or his or her counsel, the hearing may be postponed for
a period not to exceed forty-eight hours.
(d) The individual shall be present at the probable cause
hearing and shall have the right to present evidence, confront all
witnesses and other evidence against him or her, and to examine
testimony offered, including testimony by the bureau of public
health or its designees.
(e) At the conclusion of the hearing the magistrate or circuit
court shall find and enter an order stating whether there is
probable cause to believe that the individual is likely to cause
serious harm to himself, herself or others as a result of his or
her disease and actions. If probable cause is found, the
individual shall be immediately committed to an institution
maintained for the care and treatment of persons afflicted with
tuberculosis. The person shall remain so committed until
discharged in the manner authorized pursuant to section five of this article.
(f) The bureau of public health shall promulgate rules
pursuant to the provisions of article three, chapter twenty-nine-a
of this code necessary to implement the provisions of this article,
including, but not limited to, rules relating to the transport and
temporary involuntary commitment of patients.